Morales halves his salary to pay for more teachers

Bolivian President Evo Morales cut his salary in half and ordered no Cabinet minister could collect a higher wage than his own, with the savings used to hire more public school teachers.

In one of his first decrees, the president pledged that his salary would be 15,000 bolivianos (£952) a month. The money saved will go into a public fund to hire more teachers.

"We need 6,000 new teachers and there is only money for 2,200," he said. Mr Morales's predecessor earned 34,900 bolivianos a month. Mr Morales was inaugurated as Bolivia's first Indian president on Sunday.